1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to techniques for handling energy systems, such as windmills, wind turbines and/or other devices, used to convert wind into energy. Such handling may involve installation, storage and/or conveyance of the windmills.
2. Background of the Related Art
Conventional windmills (sometimes referred to as wind turbines) typically entail a tapered turbine tower and a wind turbine nacelle positioned on top of the tower. A wind turbine rotor with multiple wind turbine blades is connected to the nacelle through a shaft mechanism, which extends out of the nacelle.
Wind turbine towers (made up of tower units) can be several hundred feet tall, requiring heavy equipment to deliver to a location and/or construct on site, and presenting a high risk of injury to workers. Transporters, such as boats, have been used to transport the wind systems to locations, such as offshore facilities, for installation. Offshore windmill installation has been accomplished with large capacity cranes. In some cases, the cranes are used in combination with the transporter to transfer the windmill from the transporter and/or to install the windmill. These transporters and large cranes can pose a high safety risk when operated in high winds, which limits the window of delivery and/or installation to approximately a few months per year. Examples of windmill delivery and/or installation techniques are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,311,434, 7,456,515, 7,112,010 and 7,234,409. Despite the existence of such techniques, a need remains for improved techniques to transport, transfer, store, assemble and/or install wind turbines.